Treatment Services

I offer pharmacology (medicines), psychotherapy and neuromodulation (TMS) services for depression, anxiety and OCD. I speak 5 languages - Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English. Each patient requires an individualized mix of medication and psychotherapy depending on the severity and stage of their illness. In acute psychotic states of schizophrenia and mania, medication would be the primary tool. In OCD and Depression a mix of medication and psychotherapy is better than either one alone.

Initial Consultation

The first consultation can take upto an hour. We will go over your current symptoms, past episodes, family history, past treatments, quantify your current symptom severity using rating scales. discuss treatment options and future course. Usually a medicine is prescribed. The first consult also acts an evaluation for starting psychotherapy.

Follow up Consultation

Follow up consultations will involve going over your experience with the treatment, quantifying symptoms with rating scales, adjusting medicine doses, reviewing psychotherapy homework, talking to family members (if you so wish) to educate them.

Medicines/Pharmacotherapy

Medicines for depression and anxiety disorders are usually limited to 6-12 months. They do not need to be taken life long in most cases and are not addictive. OCD being a chronic condition requires taking medication for a longer duration. Medication used for these conditions act by modulating serotonin levels in the brain.

Talk therapy/Psychotherapy

I offer Cognitive-Behavior therapy for depression and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD. During CBT sessions, we will work together to uncover and modify unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours that impact your mood state, obsessions and compulsions.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

TMS works on Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction. Magnetic pulses are delivered to brain targets - Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in depression and anxiety, Anterior cingulate cortex for OCD. Reduction of symptoms is seen on average in 10- 20 days. Used to accelerate treatment response and reduction of symptoms in combination with medicine and also used in patients not responding to medication.

Caregiver meetings

Psychiatric illness often develop over weeks and months and subside slowly too. At times they can be chronic. Education of caregivers/family members is important towards correcting misconceptions about psychiatric conditions, to reduce stigma, addressing caregiver burden and ultimately improving outcomes.